By Luigi Santosuosso
Q: Tell us a little bit about the history of your label: When was it established, what were your motivations, how did you choose the name.?
J.A.G.: I established Love Slave in February of 1999. I think that as we grow as musicians one begins to realize that as an artist you are almost entirely dependent on the opinions of other people to further your own career. Of these people (club owners/bookers, critics, and label people) I realized that the area that was open for me to gain some control of my own destiny was in starting my own label.
In the economic climate that we now work in the thought of getting a "deal" with a big label seemed impossible, as they are only interested in the most predigested and economically viable projects, and small labels while good intentioned for the most part ÃÂ there are thieves and pinheads everywhere ÃÂ offer the musician not much more benefit that he can offer himself if he is willing to put in the work. I was very inspired by artists such as Tim Berne, Ani DeFranco, Prince, Herb Alpert, Gunther Schuller, Sun Ra and others who sought to take control of their music and the music that they loved.
I feel that the term Love Slave is a true statement of my involvement in improvised music and as the vision of this label came to be, it seemed like the right name to use. I wanted a label that would produce honest music, made from Love. I also wanted a label that was dedicated to giving other musicians a chance to sell their own music to a wider audience, and created our web site to do that, as well as sell our own product.
Q: There are certain labels that are immediately associated with a specific style or "sound" (think of ÃÂ60s Blue Note or today's HatHut, Winter & Winter, ECM etc.). We all have at one time or another ended up buying a CD by an artist unknown to us just because her/his CD was released by a label we greatly trust. What is the concept that you would like your CDs to be associated with? Do you pursue a specific artistic ideal that all the CDs on your catalogue should share?
J.A.G.: I feel that Love Slave should focus on presenting unique CDs that are made by musicians that are dedicated to their own personal visions of creativity.
I am not going for a "sound" in the ECM sense of the word, or a genre in the Winter & Winter or say Blue Note model. I feel that modern improvisational music is about the opposite idea, a music built on the constant striving for new means of expression that is made from our unique time in history. We are at a place where all influences are valid, and I feel that the focus should be on the music's ideas and intentions not on the label's identity. Consumers should come to our label because they can trust that each release will take them somewhere they haven't been before.
Q: Your statement of mission says: "This is Creative music made in the moment, for NOW." Isn't this in contradiction with the concept of "recording" which generally aims at "crystallizing" music to make it available for the future? If not, what is your way to make music that is for both now and tomorrow?
J.A.G.: All we can hope to do is capture an instant in time, a snapshot of a great artist in the moment of creating, an intimate look into the mind and (without sounding to wishy-washy) the soul of another person. Music made in the moment for NOW speaks more to the intent of the musicians making the music than anything else. We try to put out music that is an honest statement of how we feel about the world at that moment. Truly honest music will always be valid to whomever, whenever they are listening to it.
Q: What were the initial difficulties? Apart from finding your name, headquarters, personnel etc., was distribution your main problem? What channels have you used to make your label more visible?
J.A.G.: I think that the two main problems are distribution and finding a place for your voice to be heard. There are umpteen new releases a week, and umpteen media outlets trying to hype whatever they feel they can sell. The old days of putting out a recording and getting the big jazz guys in the two or three big jazz magazines to write about how important this recording is are gone.
There are so many writers all trying to get a review in sooo many magazines and websites that the act of getting a good review in a good magazine is almost meaningless. What is a good magazine? Which writer is more trustworthy than another for the music consumer?
In the small label world we are trying to get a word of mouth thing going among groups of people to sell our product, and I think that that is the only way for us to do it, kinda under the radar of the pop culture din. That is why distribution is really so important, the more ways that the music is available the more people will bump into it and tell their friends about it.
Q: Does the daily routine of running a label (taking care of the relations with the media, dealing with the artists of your roster, promoting your CDs etc.) somehow detract from your concentration on music (practicing, rehearsing, touring)?
J.A.G.: Yes. But it also makes playing music feel like a great vacation, a thing that you yearn to work on and do all the time, so when you get to it, it feels great.
Q: Should a major label offer you a record deal, would you accept it or would you rather stick with your label to preserve your freedom of choice?
J.A.G.: There is this great Mose Allison tune about when he makes his big fuzzed out rock and roll record everything is gonna be fine. I think there is such a double-edged sword about that. Would I like to score the big deal? Make some money, get tour support, exposure to a huge audience, be on talk shows and whatever else they make you do? YOU BET!
Right now I got freedom and no money. But seriously I think that we all want on some level to score the big gig in the sky, when you get the big gig then you've got a whole mess of other problems such as loss of control, having to maintain sales etc.
If someone wanted to do that for me, great; until then I am very happy doing this work.
Q: What are the best selling CDs on your label?
J.A.G.: They all sell about the same.
Q: And what are your favorite CDs on the catalogue?
J.A.G.: I love them all.
Q: What are the 5 CDs that you wished you had produced for your label (this question is just another way to ask you what are the 5 CDs you would take with you on a desert island, the 5 CDs that have changed your life...)?
J.A.G.: I hate these kind of questions. Most anything I've ever heard has changed me in some way or another, and no matter who I select I will be omitting something I important to me. I really don't think I can give you a better answer than all music is good and it makes me feel good to listen to it.
Q: Which are the two contemporary artists you would like to have signed for your label (or: what are two special projects that you would like to produce for your label)?
J.A.G.: I would like to make a big band record of all the people I grew up playing with in Seattle doing free music. That would rock. I would also like to record those same people doing duets with one another. That would also rock.
Q: What are the future releases your label is working on?
J.A.G.: The Tridruga CD is going to come out in April, there is also a band called EZ Pour Spout that plays freaked out covers of bands ranging from Frankie Valli to Led Zeppelin, featuring Briggan Krauss, Jamie Saft, Curtis Hasselbring, John Mettam and myself that is going to be really great. We also hope to do another trio record with David Tronzo.
ROSTER OF ARTISTS: David Tronzo, J. A. Granelli, Peter Epstein Trio, Ralph Alessi and Modular Theatre with Hank Roberts, Tridruga with Yuri Lemeshev, Brad Shepik and Tony Scherr.
DISCOGRAPHY:
Tronzo Granelli Epstein, Crunch (lvs 101)
Ralph Alessi and Modular Theatre, Hissy Fit (lvs 102)
Tridruga, Tridruga (lvs 103)
This article is published courtesy of the Italian music webzine Musicboom.
